Cato Institute Event Videos (Full)

Finance and Economic Opportunity

The H1B Effect on Local Jobs and Productivity

Evaluating Policies to Prevent Another Foreclosure Crisis: An Economist's View

Off-Balance Sheet Federal Liabilities

Trust and reputation are central to the operation of capital markets. But in our generation, reputational mechanisms are failing; and when they fail, markets and societies are also at risk of failure. The usual response has been to call for more aggressive regulation, yet this only worsens the problem, as Jonathan Macey shows in his new book. There, he demonstrates how and why poorly considered regulation has undermined traditional trust mechanisms throughout financial institutions, credit rating agencies, and accounting and law firms. Please join us for a discussion of these issues, including a better path to restoring trust and integrity.

Ian Vasquez discusses private education in Peru

When Calvin Coolidge became president in 1923, the top personal income tax rate was 77 percent. The national debt had risen from $1.5 billion in 1916 to $33 billion in 1919 — in large part due to America’s entry into World War I. Together with his treasury secretary, Andrew Mellon, Coolidge cut the top personal income tax rate to 24 percent and dramatically reduced government spending. The economy expanded along with tax revenue, and that allowed the national debt to fall to $16 billion by 1929. Please join us for a discussion of the lessons that Coolidge administration reforms hold for the United States today.

In Juche Strong, director Rob Montz examines the propaganda apparatus that exists in North Korea, the underlying Juche philosophy of national “self-reliance” that fuels it, and the pivotal role it plays in the continued existence of the secretive country. Montz argues that a collective sense of purpose instilled by cradle-to-grave propaganda has been key to sustaining the country, and has created a quasi-religious fervor around the Kim dynasty that persists even as North Koreans suffer under the brutal regime. Can North Korea continue indefinitely in this fashion? If so, what policies should the U.S. consider as North Korea strives to develop its nuclear program? How should the U.S. respond when North Korean leaders threaten aggression?

The December 2001 Bonn Agreement proclaimed the international community’s determination to “end the tragic conflict in Afghanistan and promote national reconciliation, lasting peace, stability and respect for human rights in the country.” Over a decade later, while access to health care and education has improved, the central government in Kabul remains corrupt and incapable of exerting control over its territory, the Afghan security forces are rife with criminality and internal divisions, and the Afghan Taliban and other insurgent forces still threaten the country. The mission to build an effective Afghan state and eradicate indigenous militants has resulted in a costly, time-intensive, and troop-heavy campaign, even though the United States accomplished the limited goal of incapacitating al Qaeda and punishing the Taliban only months after 9/11.What went wrong? In autumn 2001 what could U.S. policymakers have done differently? Years later, in spring 2009, was an Iraq-like surge the right option? Should U.S. officials have ever oriented the mission around grand promises of civilian reconstruction and long-term development assistance? Could the United States have met the limited objective of disrupting al Qaeda without a broader nation-building presence? In the future, if America is attacked and finds itself in a similar situation, how should it meet the threat without getting trapped? Please join us for an in-depth discussion among experts of the Afghan war on the challenges of achieving regional stability and the lasting policy impact of America’s longest war.

Senator Rand Paul’s recent 13-hour filibuster drew attention to a number of important issues involving the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles abroad and at home. Among them: is it constitutional for the president to use UAVs to target American citizens abroad, far from any battlefield? What is the legal basis for President Obama’s ever-expanding drone wars abroad? Given the Department of Homeland Security’s support for domestic law-enforcement drones, what legal protections do Americans need to prevent liberty and privacy abuses at home?

A Looming Scientific Revolution in Environmental Regulation?

The Libertarian State of the Union

What's New in State Tax Policy? Pro-Growth Reforms vs. Special-Interest Breaks

Though President Obama has won reelection, the future of his health care law hinges on whether states will implement the law's health-insurance "exchanges" and massive expansion of Medicaid. The correct answer to both questions remains a resounding no. Cato's director of health policy studies Michael F. Cannon will explain how states can force Congress to reopen Obamacare, and predicts that before President Obama's second term ends, he will sign major changes to Obamacare into law.

Wounds That Will Not Heal: Affirmative Action and Our Continuing Racial Divide